Freedonia Marxonia set for Spring > Alumni & Friends | Online Community | State University of New York at Fredonia Freedonia Marxonia set for Spring The zany fun of the annual Freedonia Marxonia Marx Brothers Film Festival and Symposium returns to campus Saturday, April 24, from 1 to 5 p.m. in 105 Fenton Hall. This year’s festival features a presentation by Marx Brothers aficionado Matthew Hahn, who is sponsoring this year’s event along with his wife, Cheri. Marx Brothers expert Paul Wesolowski will exhibit items from his extensive collection of memorabilia. Douglas Canham, ’87, a founding member of the festival and sponsor of the 2009 “rebirth” of Freedonia Marxonia, will also be on hand. The 2010 festival will contain many surprises, but its traditional elements will remain, including the Marx Brothers contests. Cash prizes with be awarded for best-in-class original Marx works created by students, alumni and community members in three categories: short films (four minutes or less), art (any medium) and look-a-like efforts (individuals or groups).

Free “Groucho Glasses” will be distributed to all participants, “Duck Soup” and other Marx Brothers’ films will be shown, and a group photo will be taken of the attendees. Freedonia Marxonia celebrates the unique link SUNY Fredonia has with the 1929 Marx Brothers film, “Duck Soup,” which takes place in a fictional country of Freedonia. In addition, there is a great deal of area folklore that suggests there is “more to the story.” To enjoy the fun of the legendary comedians — SUNY Fredonia style — make sure to visit campus April 24. To learn more, contact Karen West at westk@fredonia.edu. posted @ Friday, January 22, 2010 1:45 PM by Christine Davis Mantai Freedonia Marxonia’s call for art – The Leader – Fredonia News AMANDA DEDIE Assistant News Editor Freedonia Marxonia, the annual Fredonia village and campus event highlighting the lives and accomplishments of the Marx brothers, is now accepting art submissions for the event’s art contest. Students are welcome to submit art pieces of any medium, from paint and clay to twigs and glue.

The art has been small to human-sized. Any rendition of the Marx brothers goes! One year a student won having constructed the faces of the trio with vegetables. Entries will be displayed as part of the Freedonia Marxonia exhibit in Reed Library, opening Oct. 1 and running until Oct. 25, and are eligible for cash prizes: $75 first prize, $50 second prize, $25 third prize. Says Academic Affairs via email, “All ages and skill levels are welcome to participate. The art contest is intended as a fun activity to increase awareness of Fredonia’s connection to the Marx Brothers. Their 1933 movie “Duck Soup” was set in the fictional country of ‘Freedonia.’” In 1933, the Mayor of Fredonia, Harry B. Hickey, sent a letter to Paramount Studios, complaining about the use of the village’s name in the movie. Groucho had a sarcastic response, suggesting the village change its name because it was hurting the movie. The exchange was said to be a just publicity stunt, but it got Fredonia’s name in the press.

“I imagine because the Marx brothers are so zany and anarchic﹘they’re wacky people, and comedic and all that, that [the mayor] probably knew that in this made up country of ‘Freedonia,’ maybe he thought that it was just so wild that it wouldn’t reflect well on the village of Fredonia, because they have the same name,” said Cindy Yochym, Reed Library’s reference librarian. Years later, in 1987, Fredonia students created the event to incorporate the Marx brothers with the history of Fredonia and bring the campus and community together in events that play out for the whole weekend. On Oct. 1 at 3 p.m., Reed Library will present the Exhibit opening and welcoming remarks. A group photo will be taken, with attendees wearing complimentary Groucho glasses; there will also be a cake in honor of Groucho Marx’s 125 birthday. The same evening at 7 p.m., McEwen Hall will have a screening of “Duck Soup,” the 1933 movie set in Freedonia. On Oct.

2 at noon, in the garden at Reed Library, there will be a “Lunch with The New York Times,” with keynote speaker Doug Canham, class of 1987, speaking about the origin of Freedonia Marxonia. After the speech, lunch will be provided by The New York Times. The same evening, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fredonia Opera House, there will be a screening of “A Night at the Opera”, the Marx Brothers’ 1935 movie, as well as a Marx Brothers trivia contest. From Oct. 1 to Oct. 25, Reed Library will have all of the Freedonia Marxonia art contest submissions on display. All events are free and open to the public through the support of the Hahn Family Freedonia Marxonia Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation. Submissions are accepted until Sept. 25. For submissions or questions, please contact Cindy Yochym, the reference librarian of Reed Library, at Cynthia [dot] Yochym [at] fredonia [dot] edu .

Duck Soup (1933) - IMDb IMDb 13 January 2017 5:53 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 25 titles created 03 Mar 2013 a list of 28 titles created 27 Apr 2014 a list of 31 titles created 15 Mar 2015 a list of 33 titles created 16 Jun 2015 a list of 22 titles created 1 month ago Search for " Duck Soup " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin.

2 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards » Photos A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies. Directors: Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding. Director: Victor Heerman Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley University, hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against rival Darwin University. Director: Norman Z. McLeod On a transatlantic crossing, the Marx brothers get up to their usual antics and manage to annoy just about everyone on board the ship. Director: Norman Z. McLeod A veterinarian posing as a doctor, a race-horse owner and his friends struggle to help keep a sanitarium open with the help of a misfit race-horse. Director: Sam Wood During the Florida land boom, the Marx brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.

Directors: Robert Florey, Joseph Santley Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx The Marx Brothers come to the rescue in the Wild West when a young man, trying to settle an old family feud so he can marry the girl he loves, runs afoul of crooks. Director: Edward Buzzell The Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job. Director: Edward Buzzell The Marx Brothers are employed at a hotel in postwar Casablanca, where a ring of Nazis is trying to recover a cache of stolen treasure. Director: Archie Mayo A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager. Director: Charles Reisner A penniless theatrical producer must outwit the hotel efficiency expert trying to evict him from his room, while securing a backer for his new play. Director: William A.

Seiter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star. He is then captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition. Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot Edit Storyline The small state of Freedonia is in a financial mess, borrowing a huge sum of cash from wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale. She insists on replacing the current president with crazy Rufus T. Firefly and mayhem erupts. To make matters worse, the neighboring state sends inept spies Chicolini and Pinky to obtain top secret information, creating even more chaos! Written by Col Needham <col@imdb.com> See All (155) » Taglines: War Is Swell ...when the Marx Brothers are in it.

They'll be out of the trenches by Christmas...if the food doesn't improve Genres: 17 November 1933 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording) Color: Groucho Marx attributed the film's strong satire on war to director Leo McCarey . See more » Goofs When they meet, Mrs. Teasdale holds Firefly's right hand while he holds the cigar with his left hand. The subsequent shot shows him holding the cigar with the right hand and the deck with the left one. See more » Quotes Rufus T. Firefly : I'll see you at the opera tonight. I'll hold your seat till you get there. After you get there you're on your own. (Boston, MA) – See all my reviews Duck Soup(1933) is the funniest and most entertaining comedy that I've seen in my life. It was the last film the Marx Brothers would do for Paramount before going over to MGM. Duck Soup is an anarchic comedy where the main characters never live by the rules and rebel as a result. The Marx Brothers put out some of the greatest comedies that rarely has been matched.

It is a satire about the nature of war, politics, and affairs of the state. Duck Soup(1933) is a great example of a film that can easily induce a person into bursts of laughter. 25 of 46 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Freedonia - 必应 Sign in Freedonia Freedonia is a term that has referred to various fictional countries. Freedonian was probably first used by Americans immediately after the American Revolution in place of the demonym "American". The term Freedonia was later popularized by the 1933 Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup. Over time, however, the word has come to have a more generic meaning. It can be anything from a noun describing a plausible yet fictional country, to an adjective ("Freedonian") used to characterize a place like the Freedonia of Duck Soup. Because the Ma ... (展开) rx Brothers' Freedonia had so many qualities—autocracy, diminutiveness, and obscurity, to name but a few — a place can be described as "Freedonian" for having any one of these qualities. Freedonia As a name for the US In Vol.

VI, Part IV, of the Medical Repository, 1803, pp. 449–50, Dr. Samuel Mitchill, wrote the following under the heading of "Medical and Philosophical News": Proposal to the American literati, and to all the citizens of the United States, to employ the following names and epithets for the country and nation to which they belong; which, at the distance of 27 years from the declaration and of 20 years from the acknowledgment of their independence, are to this day destitute of proper geographical and political denominations, whereby they may be aptly distinguished from the other regions and peoples of the earth: Fredon, the aggregate noun for the whole territory of the United States. Fredonia, a noun of same import, for rhetorical and poetical use. Fredonian, a sonorous name for 'a citizen of the United States'. Frede, a short and colloquial name for 'a citizen of the United States'. Fredish, an adjective to denote the relations and concerns of the United States Example.

Fredon is probably better supplied with the materials of her own history than Britain, France, or any country in the world, and the reason is obvious, for the attention of the Fredonians was much sooner directed, after their settlement, to the collection and preservations of their facts and records than that of the Dutch and Irish. Hence it will happen that the events of Fredish history will be more minutely known and better understood than those of Russian, Turkish, or Arabic. And thereby the time will be noted carefully when a native of this land, on being asked who he is and whence he came, began to answer in one word that he is a Frede, instead of using the tedious circumlocution that he was "a citizen of the United States of America." And in the like manner notice will be taken of the association of Fredonia and Macedonia and Caledonia as a word equally potent and melodious in sound. Freedonia Duck Soup In the movie Duck Soup, tiny Freedonia ("Land of the Brave, and Free") is suffering from severe financial problems, and government leaders request a loan from wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale to keep things afloat. The widow agrees on the condition that Rufus T.

Firefly, played by Groucho Marx, take control and run the country. In the musical number that accompanies Firefly's first day in office, Groucho lets the audience know how things will run, singing lyrics such as "The last man nearly ruined this place, he didn't know what to do with it/If you think this country's bad off now, just wait 'til I get through with it.\ Firefly insults and angers Ambassador Trentino from the neighboring nation of Sylvania, which leads to war. Chico and Harpo Marx appear in the film as spies for Sylvania, and their trial for spying turns into an absurd musical number. Chico's character, Chicolini, doubles as Freedonia's secretary of war, while Harpo's character, Pinky, becomes Firefly's chauffeur. Zeppo Marx plays Firefly's secretary. When the film was first released, the village of Fredonia, New York, complained about the possible negative impact the film might have on them. The Marx Brothers replied, in typical Marx fashion, "Change the name of your town. It is hurting our picture." The satirical depiction of Freedonia is said to have led Benito Mussolini to ban the film in Italy.

Freedonia Hoaxes In the 1960s, Woody Allen, working on Candid Camera, used Freedonia as a practical joke by asking passersby what they thought of the bid for independence for Freedonia. In the 1990s, the satirical magazine Spy pulled a practical joke on several members of the United States Congress. Impersonating a New York radio host (Henry Rose), the magazine successfully convinced several newcomers to Congress to comment on the "ethnic cleansing" in Freedonia, without their realizing that Freedonia was a fictional country. Nick Smith urged caution; James Talent supported action; Jay Inslee warned that inaction would be unacceptable. The story drew commentary elsewhere. Freedonia Later works of fiction In the 1977 film Jabberwocky, Freedonia is one of the kingdoms conquered by the King Bruno the Questionable. Duck Soup is used as in-joke amongst characters portrayed as knowledgeable about the film in a Season 3 episode of The West Wing, while another episode in Season 6 recalls the general plot details of Duck Soup. In "Enemies Foreign and Domestic", C.J.

Cregg, Sam Seaborn, and Toby Ziegler are discussing the relevancy of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in a post-Soviet world. C.J., being briefed by Sam on a number of countries she has to mention as possible new candidates for NATO membership, wonders why Freedonia's being left out of the mix. She goes on to reference Groucho Marx by singing "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" (which was his character in Animal Crackers) under her breath. When upbraided by Toby for not taking the briefing seriously, she asks why her attempt at humor is less valid than Sam's or his. Toby responds that he's heard her joke before, implying that he's seen Duck Soup. Determined that her Marx Brothers references be respected, she ends the sequences of references by offering to pay Toby $500 if he'll sing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" (a song sung by J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho) in "At the Circus"). During Season 6, Freedonia popped up again when Congressman Matt Santos, then hoping to become the Democratic nominee for president, showed his anger with modern political debates.

The question of the "situation in Freedonia" was asked of a candidate in a Senate debate, and after the candidate said he was studying it, there was no allowed time for the other candidates to challenge him about the existence of the country. The American game publisher FASA's name was originally supposed to stand for "Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration." In their first publication (a set of starship deck plans for the game Traveller), the accompanying introduction was signed "Rufus T Firefly, Director". In the Sierra Entertainment PC game Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire, the character Ali Chica is a parody of Chico Marx. If a non-player character is asked about Ali Chica after his disappearance, the player is told that he went to Fredonia. United Kingdom games "Democracy" and "Democracy 2" featured Freedonia as a playable country. In the 2007 Doctor Who episode "The Shakespeare Code", the Doctor claims his companion Martha Jones is from Freedonia. He also claims this in the Doctor Who novel Sting of the Zygons.

Although the usage may be intended simply as a plausible name for a country of which the listener (William Shakespeare in the former case) has not heard, it is specifically linked to Duck Soup in at least one official reference work. ^ Wood, Gordon. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. Oxford History of the United States 4. United States: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-503914-6. ^ a b "The New Pictures". Time Magazine (Time Inc.). 1933-11-20. Retrieved 2007-04-09. ^ Kanfer., Stefan (2001). Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx (reprint ed.). New York: Vintage (Random House). ISBN0-375-70207-5. ^ a b "Parliament of suckers: Spy says 'Welcome' to freshman Congress class." Spy, "July–August 1994". (The dating is obscure. The story itself is dated February 1992.

There is commentary on it dated early 1993.) ^ "Brisk wind of change looks more like faint breeze after magazine's hoax" Sun Sentinel, January 27, 1993. ^ Isn't Freedonia Next to Oz?, New York Times, 13 January 1993. Retrieved 12 January 2011 ^ Russell, Gary (2007). Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia - A Definitive Guide to Time and Space. London: BBC Books. p.69. ISBN978-1-84607-291-8. ^ Williams, Ian (2007-05-01). "Save Freedonia". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-05-02. ^ Freedonia on the Potomac Urban Dictionary: Freedonia Freedonia "The term Freedonia was popularized by the 1933 Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup, as a fictional country. Over time, however, the word has come to have a more generic meaning.

It can be anything from a noun describing a plausible yet fictional country, to an adjective ("Freedonian") used to characterize a place like the Freedonia of Duck Soup. Because the Marx Brothers' Freedonia had so many qualities— autocracy , diminutiveness , and obscurity , to name but a few — a place can be described as "Freedonian" for having any one of these qualities." - Wikipedia "All hail Freedonia" The Best Movies by the Marx Brothers You Should Watch The Best Movies by the Marx Brothers You Should Watch Nandini Updated: 6 January 2017 From horn-touting Harpo to proud and eloquent Groucho, with pretty-faced Zeppo and cunning Chico in-between, the Marx brothers remain unquestionably one of the world’s most celebrated comic acts. Their films spanned several decades and weaved complex plot lines with an ever-tangible sense of dark humor, nonsense and absurdity. Here, we take a look at some of the best.

Chico Marx playing cards with himself | © FrankValli/WikiCommons/Public Domain Animal Crackers (1930) The main plot of this one unravels the adventures of Groucho Marx as a captain Jeffrey T Spaulding, who attends a party in a Long Island estate thrown by a wealthy matron, Mrs Rittenhouse. During the party, Arabella, Mrs Rittenhouse’s daughter decides to play a trick on her matriarch and replaces a valuable painting with a fake one. Jeffrey Spaulding becomes a detective and investigates the possible robbery. The movie is filled with one-line jokes and visual gigs, while the most comical moments are those in which Jeffrey Spaulding reminisces about his adventures in the deep jungles of Africa , revealing, at the same time, that he has never even been to such exotic destinations. Monkey Business (1952) In Monkey Business, the Marx Brothers play stowaways on a passenger ship to New York . During the journey, they are hounded from their hiding places by the ship’s captain and his determined – if a tad stupid – group of officers, and forced into an absurd chase around the liner.

Eventually, the Marx Brothers become entwined with the machinations of gangsters, also traveling aboard, and hilarity ensues. Following the release, Monkey Business was a big commercial success and is now considered to be one of the Marx Brothers’ finest works. @insomniacuredhere/flickr Horse Feathers (1932) This story revolves around a football match between the fictional Darwin and Huxley Colleges. Groucho plays professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley Colleg, while Zeppo plays his son, Frank. Frank advises his father to hire new football team members to help win the match. Unfortunately, he hires the wrong men: Baravelli, the ice-man, and Pinky, a dog catcher. Of course, classic Marx-esque disaster results and plenty of laughs follow. The photo of the Marx Brothers from the last scene made a cover of TIME in 1932. Duck Soup (1933) Duck Soup is now widely regarded by movie critics as a masterpiece of Marx Brothers performance, but in 1933, the film received mixed reviews. The story revolves around the fictional country of Freedonia, a small bankrupt country in need of financial aid.

The wealthy Mrs Teasdale is called upon to save the country by offering the treasury $20 million. She agrees, under one condition, in her hands will rest the power to appoint a new country leader. Of course, she opts for Rufus Firefly, who turns out to be totally incompetent – as you might expect of Groucho Marx! After his appointment, Freedonia becomes embroiled in sorts of troubles and it’s left to the wit and charm of the Marx Brothers to find a way out. A Night at the Opera (1935) This one’s plot opens with character Mrs Claypool in a restaurant, waiting for Otis B Driftwood (Groucho), her business manager, who is having a dinner with another woman in the same place. When they find out that they are, in fact, sitting at opposite tables, Driftwood introduces Mrs Claypool to the opera director, named Gottlieb. Driftwood persuades Mrs Claypool to invest in the opera so that he can hire Lassaparii, the world’s greatest tenor. Driftwood thinks he is getting Rodolpho Lassparri but she is actually getting opera chorister, Ricardo Baroni.

It’s all a typical Marx Brothers ploy, winding up in nonsense and ridiculousness by the bucket load. By Nandini Duck Soup (1933) | The Film Spectrum Producer: Herman J. Mankiewicz (Paramount) Writers: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby (screenplay) Photography: Henry Sharp Music: John Leipold Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres, Louis Calhern, Edmund Breese, Leonid Kinskey, Charles Middleton, Edgar Kennedy Introduction Their careers began over a century ago, as a family vaudeville act in New York. Yet the very mention of the phrase “Marx Brothers” has become cultural shorthand for comic genius and a reminder that good comedy never stales. Yes, they were all actual brothers, and yes, there were as many as five: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo, though the lattermost left the act before the group started making films in 1926.

“By the time the Marx Brothers were on film, they were doing routines that they had perfected on stage for years and years on the vaudeville circuit, so they really knew what they were doing,” writer/director Andrew Bergman says. “They just took everything apart.” In all, the siblings made 16 pictures together through 1957, and as the wisecracking standout, Groucho enjoyed a solo career that stretched into the ’60s. But of all the films they made, none was more influential or more hilarious than their 1933 flop Duck Soup, their last at Paramount, and last with Zeppo, a film grossly under-appreciated in its day, but quite simply one of the finest comedies ever made. Plot Summary The film takes place in the fictional country of Freedonia, a miniscule place barely seen on a map. The nation faces grave bankruptcy and can only be saved by the contribution of wealthy widow Gloria Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), who insists the current prime minister step down in favor of Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx). Of course, it isn’t exactly the best time for Firefly to take over.

Freedonia is on the brink of war with neighboring Sylvania. But take over he does, while his assistant, Bob Roland (Zeppo Marx), warns about the suspicious motives of Sylvanian ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhern), who’s secretly trying to take over Freedonia by marrying Mrs. Teasdale. Trentino sends two spies, Pinky (Harpo Marx) and Chicolini (Chico Marx), to gather intelligence on Firefly. Later, he sends them to Mrs. Teasdale’s home to steal Freedonia’s war plans, only for Firefly to catch them red-handed. Controlled Chaos The appeal of watching the Marx Bros. is the sense that anything can happen at any time, whether it’s Harpo rising out of a bathtub, or a doghouse tattoo turning into a real barking dog . The final war sequence is absolute frenzy with Groucho wearing five different uniforms as he dodges explosions and heat-seeking missiles through the window, Harpo’s hat spinning around from machine-gun fire, and a priceless “help is on the way” montage, where the cavalry arrives in the form of fire engines, motorcycle cops, marathon runners, rowers, swimmers, baboons, elephants and dolphins.

While some of the visuals appear dated, they are nonetheless ambitious. And who better to organize this controlled chaos than director Leo McCarey? Between 1926-1929, McCarey served as Laurel and Hardy’s “supervisor.” He says that meant “writing the story, cutting it, stringing the gags together, coordinating everything, screening the rushes, working on the editing, sending out the prints, working on the second editing when the preview reactions weren’t good enough and even, from time to time, shooting sequences over again.” (E) With Laurel and Hardy already under his belt, and the screwball comedy The Awful Truth (1937) on the horizon, McCarey was at the prime of his career to attempt the Marx Brothers. Yet even he admits he felt overwhelmed by them. (E) It may be fun to imagine what would have happened if the film’s original director, Ernst Lubitsch, stayed on, but McCarey does a more than admirable job.

As critic David Thomson says, of all the Marx Brothers films, “Duck Soup alone suggests a director: its humor is better organized, and its satire on war more serious.” (E) Watch the way the director helps bring forth the comedy, as with a slow pan past pairs of shoes at the foot of a bed. We see a man’s shoes, a woman’s shoes, then a set of horse shoes, as we cut to see the woman in a separate bed while Harpo shares a bed with the horse (hello Godfather). Duck Soup also features McCarey’s signature mark, the patented “slow burn,” where a clown figure takes a while to realize the disaster befalling him. (E) Here, it comes as Harpo and Chico agitate the shit out of Edgar Kennedy at a peanut stand, lifting their legs up into his hands, stealing his hat, and culminating with the literal presentation of the “slow burn” — Kennedy’s hat in flames behind him. Kennedy benefited so much from the film that he went on to star in a 1942 short of his own, also called Duck Soup. Script Du Jour So why the title?

“Duck soup” was once a common phrase for “gullible sucker,” which would more than accurately describe Kennedy at the hands of the Marxes. Groucho offered an alternate explanation: “Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you’ll duck soup the rest of your life.” (B) You could also say the title refers to the sound made by Harpo’s horns, recalling Rodney Dangerfield’s Caddyshack line: “Did somebody step on a duck?” In reality, McCarey pulled the title from his own 1927 Laurel and Hardy two-reeler. (B) The title is just the beginning of a crazy script by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, who had previously worked with the Marxes on the play Animal Crackers and the screenplay for Horse Feathers (1932). Ironically, both eventually gave up screenwriting, in 1949 and 1952, respectively, and turned to songwriting instead, sharing an Oscar nomination with Oscar Hammerstein II for “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” in The Strip (1951).

But when they were still writing dialogue for the Marx Bros., Kalmar and Ruby were unreal. It was their Animal Crackers that provided Groucho with the most famous line of his career — “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know” — voted #53 on the AFI’s 100 Movie Quotes . While Duck Soup doesn’t land any quotes on that list, it has the deepest supply of one-liners in Marx Bros. history, so much so that McCarey later lamented that he may have relied on them too heavily. (E) There are honestly more witty lines in five minutes of Duck Soup than there are in most two-hour comedies. To totally register just how funny Groucho is, you almost have to hit pause in between every time he speaks. That’s how fast the jokes come. And no matter what’s on the page, Groucho’s delivery, with signature cigar, painted-on mustache and fuzzy eyebrows, brings the comedy to another level.

He’s the undisputed king of side-splitting quips, like “I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it,” or “I danced before Napoleon. No, Napoleon danced before me. In fact, he danced 200 years before me,” or when he looks at a hot young gal and says, “I could dance with you till the cows come home. On second thought, I’d rather dance with the cows till you come home.” His best moments no doubt come when he’s on screen with Dumont, mocking both her reputation (“I’m fighting for this woman’s honor! Which is more than she ever did”) and her weight (“Ahh, marriage. I can see you right now in the kitchen, standing over a hot stove. But I can’t see the stove”). Still, the funniest exchange between Groucho and Dumont comes as she welcomes him as Freedonia’s new leader: MRS. TEASDALE: As chairwoman of the reception committee, I welcome you with open arms. RUFUS T. FIREFLY: Is that so? How late do you stay open? MRS.

TEASDALE: I’ve sponsored your appointment because I feel you are the most able statesman in all of Freedonia. RUFUS T. FIREFLY: Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself. You better beat it. I hear they’re going to tear you down and put up an office building where you’re standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can’t get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. You know you haven’t stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle. That final line was voted No. 43 on Premiere‘s 100 Greatest Movie Lines, but the full exchange between Firefly and Teasdale makes for a perfect psycho-analysis of Firefly. He is at once trying to woo Mrs. Teasdale, and simultaneously trying to tear her down. He uses innuendo to flirt (“How late do you stay open?”) but then immediately mocks her weight (“You cover a lot of ground yourself”). This suggests not an inadequacy on her part, but a loneliness on his, yearning for sexual fulfillment. Is he inexperienced? Virginal? Impotent?

The final lines (“You know you haven’t stopped talking since I came in here?”) is thus a self accusation, painting Groucho as the constant chatterbox, always needing the last word. Only his phonograph vaccine was no cure. It was a curse. Except for we audience members, who get to sit and laugh at his insecurities. Political Satire Beyond the dialogue, the script also works as a poignant political satire. “Freedonia” is a fitting choice of name, and a commentary on how easily nations wage war under the banner of “freedom.” The name actually drew fire from Fredonia, New York, where town officials wrote to the Marx Bros, complaining about the similarity in name. The Marx Bros. didn’t budge an inch, writing the town back, saying, “Change the name of your town. It’s hurting our picture.” (C) Ultimately, Duck Soup added another “e” to “Freedonia,” just to be safe. “A little bit of political humor and a lot of anarchy is right up my alley,” said actor Peter Fonda, who did his own politicking in Easy Rider (1969).

“Duck Soup was a work of brilliance.” (G) Arriving in 1933, the same year Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, the film mocks the authoritarian governments that were coming to power in Europe at the time. Benito Mussolini actually banned the film in Italy, believing it to be a direct mockery of him, and the reaction more than pleased the Marx Brothers. (B) Watching the film, you can imagine a real-life dictator’s reaction to such tongue-in-cheek lines as, ““Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” and the oppressive exchange, “Your excellency! You’re shooting at your own men!” “Here’s $5.

Keep it under your hat.” Duck Soup goes on to deride many negative political practices: the influence of money on elections; military officials paying people to cover up collateral damage; leaders getting so caught up in their own ideology that they skip diplomacy and go straight to war; and governments sending people off to war while they sit back and say, “Remember while you’re out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, we’ll be in here thinking what a sucker you are.” Predating Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) by seven years and Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964) by a good three decades, you could say Duck Soup was way ahead of it’s time. As far as satires go, it may just be the funniest. While the whole thing stings of satirical wit, the main goal of the film is not a serious pondering of war, but rather to simply show how silly the idea can be. When asked the political significance of Duck Soup, Groucho reportedly said, “What significance?

We were just four Jews trying to get a laugh.” (D) Physical Comedy In spite of the sharp dialogue, a huge portion of the laughs come from the masterful physical comedy, namely in the interactions between Chico and Harpo. The former is always ready with a clever play on words: “I’ll teach you to kick me!” “You don’t have to teach me, I know how!” WHAM. The latter nails his portrayal of a mute, horn-honking, scissor-happy goofball, with a big smile and curly hair stuffed under a pixie hat. They are the original Jay and Silent Bob, with Harpo doing a something stupefying and Chico telling him, “That’s no good.” Their interplay peaks when they enter Teasdale’s home. Chico tells Harpo do be very quiet, which of course causes him to set off every noisy object in the room. Their ensuing romp, disguised in nightgowns identical to the one worn by Firefly, is one for the history books. Even if you’ve never seen the movie, you can imagine the comedic possibilities of three identical people interacting with each other and other unsuspecting characters.

The madness culminates with the legendary “mirror” scene, where Pinkie is spotted by Firefly and, while running away, accidentally runs through a mirror, shattering it to pieces. As Firefly follows, Pinkie must stand where the mirror formerly stood, which now creates an opening between two rooms, and pretend that the door frame is in fact a mirror, imitating Firefly’s movements in pantomime. A similar gag had already been done in Chaplin’s The Floorwalker (1916) and Max Linder’s Seven Years Bad Luck (1921), but no one did it more entertainingly than Groucho and Harpo, spinning around in those nightgowns and injecting their interplay straight into our pop culture. (B). Pop Culture Harpo recreated the mirror gag with Lucille Ball in an episode of I Love Lucy (1951). It was spoofed by both Bugs Bunny (Hare Tonic) and Mickey Mouse (Lonesome Ghosts).

It was also spoofed by David Duchovny and Michael McKean in The X-Files; Benny Hill and Pat Ashton in a 1980 episode of The Benny Hill Show; and Stewie and Hitler in a 2008 episode of Family Guy. In TV’s M*A*S*H, Hawkeye says Henry reminds him of Groucho in Duck Soup. The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) revives the Duck Soup gag of burglars and radios; Monty Python & The Holy Grail (1975) recreates the gag of playing glockenspiel on soldiers/knights helmets. Fival’s An American Tale (1986) has Warren T. Rat quoting Chico, “Who are you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” Rob Zombie names characters after Rufus T. Firefly in The Devil’s Rejects (2005). And characters watch the film itself in Patch Adams (1998), Bless the Child (2000) and TV’s Gilmore Girls and Just Shoot Me.

Still, the most memorable reference comes in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), where a neurotic Allen staggers down the street after a failed suicide attempt and happens into a movie theater, trying to “gather my thoughts and be logical and put the world back into rational perspective.” Cut to a shot of the Marx Bros. playing war helmets like xylophones in Duck Soup, allowing Allen to have an epiphany: “I’m watching these people up on the screen and I started getting hooked on the film! And I started to feel how can you even think of killing yourself? I mean, isn’t it so stupid? I mean, look at all the people up there on the screen. They’re real funny. And what if the worst is true? What if there’s no God and you only go around once and that’s it? Don’t you want to be part of the experience? What the hell, it’s not all a drag. And I’m thinking to myself, maybe I should stop ruining my life searching for answers I’m never gonna get and just enjoy it while it lasts. And after, who knows, maybe there is something, nobody really knows.

I know maybe is a really slim reed to hang your whole life on, but that’s the best we have. And then I started to sit back and I actually began to enjoy myself.” Reaction and Legacy No matter how beloved the film is today, it was not well received at all in its day. Critics deemed the satire offensive and so many of the lightning-quick jokes went right over audiences’ heads. It was such a flop that Paramount terminated its contract with the Marx Brothers after a five-picture run. This allowed Irving Thalberg to step in and offer the brothers new life at MGM, but the new life was also a different life, as the Marx Bros. were suddenly surrounded by romantic subplots and musical numbers in A Night at the Opera (1935), their other masterpiece. That’s not to say Duck Soup doesn’t have music of its own, but even these are geared for comedy, unlike the serious opera renditions of their MGM pictures. “The Freedonia Hymn” is so mockingly majestic that the Marxes pelt fruit at an opera-singing Dumont.

“These Are the Laws of My Administration” is a brilliant satire on totalitarianism, with Groucho listing a litany of forbidden items then proclaiming, “This is the land of the free!” And “The Country’s Goin’ to War” is gloriously ridiculous, with the Marx Bros. hamming it up as they approach the camera in the only musical number featuring all four brothers. (B) Thankfully, Duck Soup had somewhat of a resurgence among college film students in the ’60s, and today it’s considered one of the greatest films of all time. (B) On the AFI’s original Top 100 Films list, Duck Soup was voted the No. 85 best film of all time, and on the 10th Anniversary list, it jumped to No. 60. What’s more, when it came time to name history’s greatest comedies, the AFI voted Duck Soup into the Top 5. Meanwhile, the elite Sight & Sound polls saw Duck Soup actually received votes, an amazing feat for a list that’s absolutely brutal on comedies.

In 2002, Duck Soup received two votes apiece in both the Sight & Sound Critics Poll and Directors Poll, where Stuart Gordon, writer of Re-Animator (1985) and Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989), voted Duck Soup in his Top 3 Films of All Time, as did director Terry Jones, of Monty Python & The Holy Grail (1975) and Life of Brian (1979). If any of those are your favorite comedies, what does that then say about Duck Soup? Back in college, I had the occasion to watch the movie on one of those old library 16 mm playback systems. How odd, I know, for a college dude to sneak down into the school library after flag football and rev up the Marx Bros. But I tell you, as I sat there in those headphones, I tried my best not to laugh out loud and disrupt others, but it was a lost cause. Duck Soup has something for everybody: slapstick to entertain the most lowbrow viewers, and satire to impress the hardest academics.

If choosing the greatest comedy of all time means choosing the best single film from history’s funniest group of comedians, Duck Soup wins. Or, if you’re downhearted like Woody Allen in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), worried about the unpredictability of life and humanity’s lack of control over the world, Duck Soup may just help you settle in and appreciate all the small things, like a laugh at a great joke, that make this life so worth living. Citations:

Question: Which Marx Brothers film was set in the fictional country of "Freedonia"?
Answer: Duck Soup